This was considered the best thing to do, and soon the weary cattle were drinking their first water in many hours. Afterward they all lay down to rest, not even eating until some of the weariness had pa.s.sed.
Meanwhile the cowboys under Old Billee had come to close quarters with the rustlers and the fight started immediately. There was nothing unusual about it, the rustlers merely desiring to get away and the outfit from Diamond X wishing to capture them to make them pay for their lawlessness.
One rustler was captured, for he was so wounded that he fell from his horse. The others got away, one badly hurt, it seemed, for he had to be taken in charge by one of his companions who lifted him to his own saddle.
As for Billee and his forces, they suffered somewhat, two of the cowboys being painfully wounded by bullets. But, on the whole, the affair ended much better than might have been expected. The stolen cattle had been recovered, in as good condition as could be hoped for, and the rustlers had been driven off, with the exception of the wounded one.
It was planned to take him to the nearest jail, but this trouble was obviated for the man died in the night.
Riding back after having driven off the rustlers, Billee and his men found the cattle quietly resting, while Bud and his friends were doing likewise, as they had ridden hard.
"We"ll camp here for the night," decided Billee. "Too bad there isn"t a telephone here that we could use to send word back to your dad, Bud.
But we can"t have everything."
"No," agreed Yellin" Kid with a chuckle. "I"d like a room an" a bath with plenty of hot water, but I don"t see any growin" on no trees around here!"
However, the cowboys were used to this sort of life and they counted it no unusual hardship. A fire was made, those who had been scarred by bullets were looked after and then the ever-welcome "grub" was served.
The next day, after the hasty burial of the dead rustler, on whom little sympathy was wasted, and concerning whose ident.i.ty no one cared much, the march back to Diamond X was begun, the cattle being slowly driven toward their former pasture. As not all the cowboys were needed for this, a sufficient number were told off by Billee, and the remainder, including the boy ranchers, made better speed back to headquarters.
There the news of the successful chase after the rustlers was received with satisfaction, and Mr. Merkel said he hoped it would be a lesson to other thieves.
"I wish we could give the same sort of lesson to any sheep herders that might be around here," remarked Bud.
"That"s so," said his father. "And perhaps you"d better be getting back to Spur Creek. No telling what might have happened while you"ve been away. We didn"t leave anyone on guard."
"I don"t know as it was necessary," said Bud. "But, all the same, we"d better get back."
They made the start early the next morning--the boy ranchers, with Yellin" Kid and Snake, and there was the promise of more cowboys to help them hold the "fort" should it be considered necessary.
"Well, everything seems to be all right," remarked Bud as he and his party rode up to the shack on the edge of the stream. "No signs of the sheep yet."
"And no smell, either," chuckled Yellin" Kid, as he sniffed the air.
"It takes the perfesser for that!" said Snake with a laugh.
"I wonder what Professor Wright is doing?" said Nort.
"Oh, digging up a lot of old bones, I reckon," Bud answered. "But let"s get grub and rest. I"m tired."
The events of the past few days had been strenuous enough to make them all welcome a period of rest. And they had it, for a few hours. And then something occurred to start a series of happenings that lasted and created excitement for some time.
It was toward the middle of the afternoon when Nort, who had gone down the stream a little way, looked across Spur Creek and saw hanging in the hazy air a cloud of dust.
"Wonder if that"s a wind storm," he mused. But as there was not a sign of vapor in the clear blue sky he gave up that theory. "Guess I"d better let "em know," he thought, turning back toward the fort.
And when the others came out to look at the cloud of dust, on the Mexican side of the river--a cloud which had grown larger--Bud exclaimed:
"Sheep, I"ll bet a hat!"
CHAPTER XIV
THE SHEEP ARRIVE
Among the saddles, horse-gear, weapons, grub and other equipment that had been put in the fort at Spur Creek was a telescope. Remembering this, Bud rushed in to get it, while his companions stood in front of the place, gazing across the stream at the ever-increasing cloud of dust.
"Something"s comin" on, anyhow," observed Yellin" Kid.
"Can"t be cattle," remarked Snake Purdee. "They ain"t spread out enough for cattle."
This was one way of telling, for, as the cowboy said, cattle, meaning by that steers or a herd of grazing horses, separate much more than do sheep, which stick in a bunch as they feed. Still there was no being certain of it until Bud should take an observation through the gla.s.s.
"Might be another bunch of Greasers--or rustlers," said Snake, musingly.
"There"s plenty of both kinds down there," agreed Nort, with a wave of his hand in the general direction of Mexico, the border of which misruled, unhappy and greatly-misunderstood country was not far away.
Bud came running out with the telescope, pulling shiny bra.s.s lengths to their limit before focusing it.
"We"ll soon tell now," he said, as he raised the objective gla.s.s and pointed it at the cloud of dust, while he squinted through the eye-piece. A moment later, after he had made a better adjustment of the focus, he cried: "It"s sheep all right! A big bunch of "em!"
"Any men with "em? No, I shouldn"t call "em men," hastily corrected d.i.c.k. "No decent man would raise sheep."
In this, of course, he was wrong. Sheep are needful and many a rancher is making a fortune out of them, but at this time, and in this part of the west, a sheep herder was despised and hated by his fellows.
"Yes, there"s a bunch of Greasers or some one hazin" "em on," reported Bud. "Here, Kid, take a look," and he pa.s.sed the gla.s.s to the older cowboy.
The latter could but confirm what Bud had seen and then, in turn, the other three had a look through the telescope, which brought the details of the oncoming herd of "woollies" startlingly near.
"Well, what we goin" to do about it?" asked Yellin" Kid, after they had made sure the sheep were headed toward the east bank of Spur Creek.
"We"re going to stop "em from coming over here," declared Bud determinedly.
"Maybe they don"t intend to come," suggested Nort.
"What are they heading this way for, then?" demanded his cousin.
"To get better pasture."
"Well, what pasture there is on that side of Spur Creek won"t last the sheep very long!" exclaimed Snake Purdee. "They"ll be over here in a couple of days at the most. Reckon they think they have a right to this range."
"Which they haven"t," said Bud, "though how dad is going to prove his claim, with the papers gone, I don"t see."
"We"ll prove it with force--that"s what we"ll do!" shouted Yellin" Kid.
"That"s what we"re here for. That"s what we got our guns for!" and significantly he tapped the one on his hip.